Southwest Airlines was in the news this past week for adding to a travel mess for many over the holidays.
But, one woman is singing the praises of a ticketing agent for helping her on her mother’s last day.
“We were just always attached to the hip. My best friend and I just could never imagine my life without her,” Amy Berry said.
To say Berry and her mom Edith were close is an understatement.
“Every Sunday, we had our hot dates,” she said.
Being the youngest of three and her mother’s only girl, Berry said their relationship was special
“We were, as my brothers would say, kind of codependent on each other,” Berry said.
It’s why the call Berry got on Thanksgiving Day gutted her to her core.
“My mom had fallen asleep and never woke up,” Berry said. “And my whole world crumbled.”
Less than 10 days earlier, Edith had gone to Cancun to see her family, who lives there. Berry said her mom was perfectly healthy. They never saw it coming.
“She was in a different country. Things move a lot more quickly. And I just, I had to be there,” she said.
Unfortunately for Berry, this past Thanksgiving airports saw travelers at pre-pandemic levels.
Only two flights would get her to Cancun — one at 5 p.m. and the other at midnight.
“Just being stuck in an airport, like just needing to be with my mom. I mean, I just, I, I was already going crazy,” Berry said.
Berry was told the later flight was the only option because it was too late to get onto the 5 p.m. flight. That was until Rosie stepped in.
“She just said there was no way she wasn’t going to get us on that flight. She knew when she saw my face that she, that I had to get on that flight,” Berry said.
Rosie, a ticketing agent for Southwest Airlines, held up the flight and made sure Berry was on it, getting her to her mother’s side faster.
Berry posted about the experience in a now-viral Facebook post, hoping it’ll soften people’s hearts.
“Some people might not call it a miracle, but for us, that was definitely a miracle,” she said.
Berry’s post was shared over 5,000 times. She said she hopes sharing her story will bring some grace to airline workers.